Winston Kevin Mckesson

They are an unlikely pair: The lawyer who grew up in South-Central Los Angeles fearing the police, and the cop who now admits he gave some residents in the LAPD's Rampart Division good reason to fear him. But after ex-officer Rafael Perez was sentenced to five years in prison Friday, few are questioning whether he was well represented by attorney Winston Kevin McKesson. As part of a plea bargain, Perez pleaded guilty in September to stealing eight pounds of cocaine from LAPD evidence facilities.

They are an unlikely pair: The lawyer who grew up in South-Central Los Angeles fearing the police, and the cop who now admits he gave some residents in the LAPD's Rampart Division good reason to fear him. But after ex-officer Rafael Perez was sentenced to five years in prison Friday, few are questioning whether he was well represented by attorney Winston Kevin McKesson. As part of a plea bargain, Perez pleaded guilty in September to stealing eight pounds of cocaine from LAPD evidence facilities.

Federal investigators are preparing to search a garbage-strewn hillside near downtown Tijuana for the graves of three people who an informant claims were buried there by former Los Angeles Police Department officers Rafael Perez and David Mack, law enforcement sources confirmed Tuesday. The search, expected to occur within days, is part of an ongoing federal investigation aimed at corroborating the allegations of 23-year-old Sonia Flores, Perez's former lover.

Ruben Palomares was raised in poverty, beaten by a drunken stepfather and bullied by other kids. Just before his first communion at age 12, his favorite uncle -- a man he considered his best friend -- was killed in a drug deal. These were formative forces in Palomares' early years.

A former Compton police officer was acquitted Friday of charges that he had consensual sex with a 14-year-old runaway girl, the man's attorney said. Ed'ourd Peters, who was fired from the department because of the alleged incident, said he was "relieved the court battle is over" and will now fight to get his job back. Defense lawyer Winston Kevin McKesson said the girl's allegations that Peters took her to a motel and repeatedly had sex with her were false. "She's a troubled girl," he said.

A federal magistrate judge on Friday indicated that he would overturn the 1992 drug conviction of a man who alleges that he was framed by ex-Officer Rafael Perez, the central figure in the LAPD's corruption scandal. Esaw Booker served five years in prison based on the testimony of Perez and two other officers. At a hearing in federal court, Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Rosenthal did not oppose Booker's petition to throw out the conviction.

A judge Tuesday postponed the sentencing of former Los Angeles Police Department Officer Rafael Perez--the key figure in the LAPD's unfolding corruption scandal--while authorities seek to corroborate his allegations concerning police crimes and misconduct. Under a plea agreement, Perez is expected to receive a five-year sentence on cocaine theft convictions in exchange for his cooperation.

State Sen. Roderick D. Wright (D-Inglewood) took the stand Thursday afternoon in his perjury and voter fraud trial. Wright's attorney, Winston Kevin McKesson, asked the veteran legislator about how long he has lived in the area and the various political jobs he has held, starting as a Pepperdine University student in the early 1970s. Before court adjourned for the day, McKesson also asked Wright, a Democrat, about his Inglewood property that is at the heart of the district attorney's case.

After five days of deliberations, two lengthy reviews of testimony transcripts and a series of seesaw votes, a jury announced Wednesday that it was hopelessly deadlocked over whether Los Angeles Police Officer Rafael Perez stole cocaine from the police department's property room. After learning the final vote was 8-4 in favor of guilty, Superior Court Judge Robert Perry declared a mistrial. He dismissed the jury and ordered lawyers back to court Jan. 5 to decide whether there will be a retrial.

State Sen. Roderick D. Wright's sentencing on felony convictions has been postponed two months, until May 16, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office confirmed Friday. Deputy Dist. Atty. Bjorn Dodd said Wright's defense attorney has asked for transcripts of all the trial testimony and those won't be ready until the middle of next month. Wright attorney Winston Kevin McKesson said Friday he needs the transcripts to prepare post-trial motions he will submit for Judge Kathleen Kennedy to consider.

Leroy Iverson, the father of 7-year-old Sherrice Iverson, who was strangled in a Nevada casino in 1997, has died at age 60. Iverson, who led a troubled life, died Monday of complications from diabetes at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, according to Kim Simpson of Simpson Family Mortuary in Inglewood. Iverson had been bedridden for several months.